Birds are smart and capable of learning. They find what works, especially when food is involved.
Yesterday was an unusually slow morning for birds in the mountains of the west desert. I only photographed two birds but one of them, a Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay, demonstrated some interesting feeding behavior.
The photos below are cluttered with branches but those branches are part of the story. The jay often had ‘his’ back to me and there was rarely light in his eye but it’s the behavior that interests me most.
OK, here’s the problem as I see it.
The jay was in the middle of a jumbled thicket of hundreds of small branches and twigs and the food ‘he’ was after, a clump of (sumac?) berries above his head was just out of reach. The twig the berries were on was too flimsy to support his weight, as were all of the other nearby twigs so he had no choice but to stay where he was. But he really wanted those berries.
Stretching alone still put the berries just out of reach but just barely. The perch he was on was the only secure one he could find that was this close to the berries and he really didn’t want to let go of it because he would fall into the jumble of twigs which would put him in a real predicament and his wings would be beat up as he tried to get out of it.
His solution was to use two techniques simultaneously: stretching toward the berries and…
flapping his wings to pull his perch up, not much but just enough to allow him to reach them.
And it worked, repeatedly. Many times he stretched and flapped simultaneously while grabbing a berry without ever letting go of the perch.
Here he’s eyeing another berry after swallowing the previous one.
Stretching and flapping simultaneously…
without letting go of the perch…
worked again.
And again. This one made me chuckle because it looks to me like he’s enjoying a celebratory stuffed green olive after finishing his martini.
His technique worked every time but that’s not to say he didn’t lose his balance occasionally.
Let’s do it again.
Success.
I photographed him using this technique 6-7 times and as as far as I could tell it never failed. Never once did his feet leave the perch, except momentarily when he’d lose his balance. It seems to me this would have to be a learned behavior that he’s figured out by trial and error – he’s probably done it several times before.
I know, it’s really no big deal but I’m so fascinated by behaviors I sometimes focus on what some would call minutia.
Can’t help myself – minutia matters.
Ron
Note: I didn’t have time to include specs for each individual image but most were at or close to 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender.
Very perceptive observation– an avian elevator!
I still miss the Scrub Jays that nested in my neighbor’s bamboo even thought the bamboo has been gone for several years now. Jays have definitely earned their spot as a Corvid!
In your situation I’d miss them too, Marty.
Never underestimate a corvid of any kind..”bird brains “ supreme…inventive, intelligent, problem-solvers( and causers)..
Agreed.
I just re-read in iBird that the Calif. version shared the ID “Western Scrub-Jay” with your Woodhouse‘s until they were split into 2 species in 2016. Ours are both beautiful and entertaining backyard visitors, so no surprise at their clever behavior in your neck o’ the woods, as well. Although Woodhouse’s are (supposedly) “duller and grayer,” I see really beautiful coloration in your images, particularly #9. These jays are day-brighteners with their antics here, for sure! 😎
Yup, that’s what they did Chris- they split-em up four years ago. I was so used to calling ours Western Scrub Jays, their old name, that not too long ago I used the wrong name on one of my posts. I knew better, I just forgot. Someone had to remind me.
How clever. And how agile..Yet another fascinating series.
‘Bird-brained’ is a compliment MUCH more often than the people who use it as a criticism realise.
I agree, EC. It’s about like saying someone “eats like a bird” when you’re meaning that they’re dainty eaters. Birds are far from dainty when they eat.
Thanks for posting these, they made me smile. I have seen wild turkeys doing similar feeding behavior. They were much more clumsy and comical.
April, turkeys feeding in habitat like this can sound like Sherman Tanks trying to climb trees.
Absolutely awesome series Ron! thanks for sharing!!!
Charlotte Norton
Thanks, Charlotte.
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing your observations!
Thank you, Mikal.
A behavior I think only a true and very observant naturalist would notice and document. We will call this the Dudley stretch and flap maneuver. At least I will when I see it.
Hey, I’ll be immortalized! 🙂
Ron, thank you for this wonderfully educational photo essay. I am going to pass it along to my colleague who is teaching ornithology in the spring. Scrub jays are amazing birds. I presume you read Joseph Grinnell’s 1936 essay, Up-hill Planters. It’s been a while since I read it and my copy is in my campus office. Best wishes, Pat
Link: https://academic.oup.com/condor/article-abstract/38/2/80/5264979?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Thanks, Patrick. I’ve never read it but now I’m curious so I’ll probably look into it. Thanks for the link but it only gives me access to the the abstract.
Hi Ron,
I tried to find the full paper, but could not do so, at least with the time available. I will keep my eyes open though.
Pat
Thanks, Patrick.
Yeah, the whole darn Corvid family rocks! And your behavioral series, just WOW! But it’s no surprise that they’re smart enough to do that and more. But most critters are really intelligent when it comes to food acquisition. Look at humans. We developed a captive food source! I just like Corvids much better 😉
I’m truly disappointed that jays and magpies don’t live here! They’re truly a joy of my life, like your blog. That said, I’ve got ravens and crows, and if I were out with Jack, I’d get to see them up close and personal every day!
Laura, as you might say it – Corvids rock! They’re just so smart and cocky!
It ain’t cocky when you can back it up with reality 😉
Thanks, Ron! I love the colors!! Soft and beautiful blues. We have several bright Blue Jays in the yard, rascals. I’ve always enjoyed them and had to protect them from neighborhood kids in my youth!
Mary
Thank you, Mary.
Brilliant! Thank you for capturing this behavior on camera, all so clever and interesting. As you say, corvids are very intelligent. I have only recently discovered your wonderful photography and look forward each day to seeing your photos, particularly the raptors, as I sit here in the south of England. Having spent most of my life on the prairies in western Canada, it brings back so many glorious birding memories. Thank you!
Janet, I have great fondness for the western Canada prairies. I grew up only 30 miles south of the Alberta/Montana border and my grandparents lived in southern Alberta so I spent a LOT of time there.
A really interesting series, Ron, and such a lovely bird. I’ve had blue jays on the deck all morning taking peanuts — and even a crow!
Thanks, Cathy.
NEAT! The jays are smart – have a few now and putting out a few peanuts – they pick them up and shake them to be sure it’s worth their while…….😄 They’ve also figured out a smaller bird feeder with sunflower seed in it. Grab the small perch, flap like crazy to hang on, stuff their cheeks and off they go! Love the stuffed green olive/martini analogy……
Judy, to me that particular berry actually looks like a stuffed green olive.
He’s been trained by the Marines, improvise, adapt, overcome. Beautiful series Ron. Love the stuffed green olive martini one. Really excellent photography. You turned a day with few opportunities into an outstanding day. Normally if I came home reporting that the only thing I had seen was a Scrub Jay I would be disappointed.
That Marines phrase was perfect for the situation, Everett.
Or maybe the Marines learned from the Jays? The Jays have been successful improvisors long before there were Marines.
Could be, Mikal. After all they learned from Northern Harriers when they were designing their harrier jump-jets.
Most interesting! I agree with you on their behavior; there is a lot to learn but it does take patience and a certain amount of curiosity on our part also. You could easily overlooked the ‘flurry of blue feathers’. Very nice series! 😍 I do think ‘jays’ are some of the ‘smarter’ birds or perhaps that’s just my assumption. I put out a full ring of peanuts every morning and most days it is emptied within 45 minutes. I’ve seen them take a peanut , fly away and return momentarily and grab another. One day watching Mr. BlueJay, I noticed he would fly to the ground , snuggle it into the grass, but then gather 3or4 dried leaves lying about and cover it and fly for another nut. The other day while sewing I happened to see two jays in my oak tree…one flew to the ground, hopped from leaf to leaf, found a peanut and flew off. The jay up in the tree was watching him…shortly he repeated the action. I always thought when I saw them hiding those peanuts ‘they will forget and never find them again’. Well I don’t know if it was just happenstance or not but I found it amusing and especially since we have so many squirrels running around the yard picking up those nuts also. One species trying to outwit another! 😊
“I do think ‘jays’ are some of the ‘smarter’ birds”
Agreed. After all they’re corvids! Interesting story, Kathy.
What a resourceful bird ! I chuckled at your “martini-olive-reward” quip–
if more of us humans had to work that hard for our food, there would
certainly be fewer of us lumbering around WAY overweight…..
I’m sure as hell glad I don’t have to do that for my chocolate donuts!
This is a great post. I too like the minutia. Capturing behavior and mico-habitat adds to the story of a bird new me. For me personally, a welcome relief from ‘birds on a stick glamour shots’ prevalent on many other sites.
Much appreciated, Steve. That tends to be my philosophy too.
Neat series. More informative and interesting tham just a photo of a bird on a branch. I’ve never seen that behavior.
Thank you, Dave. I don’t remember seeing that precise behavior before either.
Clever clever fellow! I’m impressed by his keeping ahold of the twig he was on.
Arwen, from a distance with my naked eye all I could see was a continuing flurry of blue feathers. A long lens sure makes a difference.
I tend to forget you are taking shots of rapidly moving targets. 🙂